Remembering September

It’s hard to believe, but as of next month I’ll have been doing these monthly recaps for a full year. I’ve cherished having them to look back on and the surge of gratitude I feel writing and reading them. Going forward, I think I want to switch up the format a little, or maybe the frequency. I had originally thought to do weekly recap posts, but knowing me that would probably go by the wayside pretty quickly. Let’s hope I find some inspiration before the month is over.
But first, let’s talk about September. It was a good month, although maybe not as magical as the previous few had been. Even on the steamiest late-summer days I could feel fall coming, which while lovely is not my favorite time of year. We also had some personal things happen that were a bit of a disappointment (nothing major or medical, no need for alarm) and I’ve needed a little time to readjust my attitude to our new reality.
Things started out on a bright note with a beautiful Labor Day weekend, a delicious H Street brunch crawl and a fun dinner out with Tom’s parents.
After that, things slowed down a bit both in real life and on the blog (I sadly only published ten posts in September, but hope to be more prolific this month). We spent a good amount of time catching up on our favorite shows (Mr. Robot!), watching gut-wrenching college football and rooting on our fantasy players on Sundays. No complaints, because laid-back time at home means plenty of time for puppy snuggles.
We did get out for a few hours one day to check out the 202 Arts and Music Festival that was happening in Navy Yard.
When George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic are playing two blocks from your apartment, you go no matter what. We had a dance party with a bunch of strangers in the sunshine and then walked around a bit to check out the art exhibits. Things like this are why I adore my neighborhood.
Other outings included a trip to visit our niece, who just gets cuter every time we see her.
We stopped by on our way out to Wolf Trap in Virginia for a special outing with our fellow Maggie Malick winery coworkers.
The owners treated us to an epic picnic on the lawn followed, not to mention a killer Weird Al Yanchovic show.

It was my first time visiting this beautiful concert venue, but certainly won’t be the last. I loved everything about the experience.
The next week we packed up and flew out to Oklahoma by way of Dallas to visit family and watch an unfortunate football game. I am positive I say this every time, but it was one of the best visits we’ve ever had. There were so many laughs and good conversations. I can’t wait to go back for Christmas.
On the way back to the airport in Dallas, I got to have lunch my beautiful friend Victoria.
We sadly hadn’t seen each other since my wedding weekend back in 2013, so it was wonderful to catch up. She is really kicking ass at life these days and is a huge inspiration for me. She’s also as into food as I am, which means we ate really well (and spent a solid five minutes melting in the Dallas heat so we could get well-lit photos of our tacos).
She suggested Taqueria la Ventana in Addison, based on my plea for Tex Mex and tacos. Everything was spot on and crazy affordable. Unfortunately, we had to rush to the airport so we didn’t get much time together. Luckily, I’ll get to see her again when she ties the knot in November. Tom and I have also decided we should tack on more time in Dallas during one of next year’s Oklahoma visits so we can partake in more foodie fun.
By the time we arrived back home, fall was officially starting to settle into the district. The crisper days just begged for long walks and nights with the windows open.
We usually stick to the river or Eastern Market on our walks, but on one particular outing we ventured over to Southwest to gawk at the beautiful Blind Whino SW Arts Club building. The creativity happening in this little enclave of DC is electric.
The week after we got back was fairly eventful. I had an amazing girls’ night meal at Tail Up Goat, and over the weekend we put in a shift at the winery and hung around afterward for a harvest party with great company. We’ve met so many interesting people during our days pouring wine and the push to get outside of my usual introverted bubble is so rewarding.
The next week, Tom left for a business trip in Orlando. (I keep urging him to do a guest post about it, but so far no luck.) I used his absence as an excuse to recharge and focus on eating healthy and exercising. We made sure to catch up every night on FaceTime though, mainly so I could show him all the cute things Ashton was up to during his absence.
And with that, the month quietly slipped away. While September wasn’t my favorite month of the year, there were many highlights and opportunities to learn from my experiences and grow as an individual. I entered the month annoyed that summer was ending, but by the end I found myself anticipating the fresh start of fall. I look forward to seeing what this new season brings.
What were the highlights of your September? What are you most looking forward to this fall?